The room is buzzing as Erika Babins wraps up a musical theatre performance for 30 youth at Coquitlam's Place des Arts.
The new summer instructor at the Maillardville facility had two sets of classes for five- to seven-year-olds as well as a more advance course for eight- to 10-year-olds who finished their week with a song and dance for an audience.
"It was really fun and they did very well," Babins said of her students afterwards. "It's amazing what they can do in just a week."
Musical theatre isn't like other arts programs, she said. When participants sign up for dance lessons, they learn new steps; for singing classes, it's all song. "But in musical theatre, you have to remember your words and notes and dance positions all at the same time," Babins said.
Multi-tasking in the studio translates well to everyday life, especially for building social skills, taking direction and learning under pressure in a group environment. "And it's just a great way to build confidence and get moving," she said.
Babins is no stranger to the stage: A 2011 graduate of Capilano University's Musical Theatre program, she was the assistant choreographer in last year's Theatre Under the Stars' production of Bye Bye Birdie. The Richmond native studied at Burke Academy of Dance and at the Gateway Academy of the Performing Arts. Last December, Babins also played a nun and ballroom dancer in The Sound of Music for Gateway.
It's that company Babins is basing her new Musical Theatre Intensive program on at Place des Arts. The all-day intensive, which runs July 30 to Aug. 3 for 12- to 14-year-olds, "is similar to a camp that I observed while at Gateway: You work with the students to form a musical. You build a script together and, at the end of it, you have a 20- or 25-minute play.
"It's something that, I believe, every musical theatre student should have on their resume because it's a play that you make and learn from scratch. It's something to be proud of."
To sign up for Musical Theatre Intensive for 12- to 14-year-olds, call Place des Arts (1120 Brunette Ave., Coquitlam) at 604-664-1636 or visit www.placedesarts.ca.
